


Till Whatever End

by maybe_she_is



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, I suppose, inspired by snow falls, like all the forest scenes and stuff, so it's not really ouat just inspired by it, some super obvious references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:16:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4781927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybe_she_is/pseuds/maybe_she_is
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>{The day he started fighting them; the day he learned of their existence, was the day he met her}</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rivers and Roads

**Author's Note:**

> so I wrote this a few years ago and it's not great. But I'm weirdly attached to it, so here we are. 
> 
> chapter title from this song my friend showed me, "rivers and roads'.

Surrounded by fifteen armed men, she was standing in the middle of the road, a quiver of arrows strapped her back, a sword held tightly in her hand, her dark hair flying in the wind, an expression of what could only be called amusement on her face.

  
"Let's play a game," her voice pierced the suspenseful silence.  
"A game?" asked one of the men, a hint of suspicion and annoyance creeping into his voice, "What kind of game?"  
"I run," she said, running straight at one of the men and knocking him to the ground. "And you try to catch me."

  
As she sprinted away, the men looked at each other in confusion. It took a while for them to comprehend what she meant, then-  
"AFTER HER!" yelled the biggest of the men. 

  
They chased after her, their heavy armor slowing them down.

  
"Gotta keep up!" she yelled, laughing, dodging the arrows they'd begun shooting at her.  
"That little-" grunted one of the soldiers.

  
Turning her head to look back at the soldiers, she smiled triumphantly- and crashed straight into another group of soldiers.

  
"We've got her now," cackled a soldier from the first group.

  
She fell to the ground, stunned.  
Within seconds, they'd taken her weapons, and she was bound and gagged.  
Although her eyes were widened with surprise, she seemed calm. If she was afraid, nothing betrayed her.

They carried her to the river.  
She struggled as the soldiers tied stones to her ankles, but to no avail.  
The soldiers were just about to throw her in, when a man ran out of the trees, brandishing a sword.

  
"Hey!" he yelled.

  
She turned her head, surprised, and for a second her piercing grey eyes locked onto his blue ones, and a shiver ran down his back, but the connection was broken as the soldiers tossed her in the river, and there was a sudden flash of fear in her eyes, and a muffled shriek, as she sank below the surface.

  
Grinning, the soldiers turned to look at him.

  
The newcomer charged straight at them. He fought skillfully and valiantly, arrows flying through the air, the clashing of knives contrasting with the grunts. But no matter how swift he was, he was outnumbered, and in less than a minute, he had only slayed a few and the other soldiers had pinned him to the ground, their breathing quickened with tiredness. His own sword was at his throat, the ultimate death. 

  
"Any last words?" growled one of the soldiers.

  
He felt something underneath him break, then a cold wind blew across the clearing, making ripples on the river.

  
"None that any of you need hear," he replied calmly, as he closed his eyes, feeling pity not for himself, but for the girl in the river, and regret that he hadn't been able to save her.

  
Suddenly there was a curious sound, like bubbles popping, and he opened his eyes to find the men gone, their swords lying scattered on the ground.  
He quickly stood up, vaguely noticing the fragments of a mangled silver necklace that looked like it could have been shaped like a dragon.

  
Shaking off his confusion, he dived into the freezing river.

  
He stayed under for as long as he could, but he couldn't see her.   
Gasping for air, he rose above the water, breathing heavily. He repeated this twice more, when he saw her, lying on the bottom of the river. Her oval-shaped face was pale, her eyelids faintly fluttering, and her dark hair flowing around her hair emphasizing only how pale she was. Small bubbles flew out between her rose pink lips. He dove down, and using his knife, cut the ropes that tied her to the stones. He lifted her in his arms, swum to the surface, and struggling to regain his breath, he stumbled ashore, dragging her with him. 

  
The girl coughed, and weakly sat up, pulling her knees to her chest.  
There was silence.

  
"You're welcome," he said.  
"I had it sorted," she replied, an edge to her high voice.   
"Oh yes?" he said, both surprised and annoyed at her tone, "Look, we both know that if I wasn't here you'd be dead at the bottom of the river."

  
She flinched. There was a silence, then-   
"Thank you," she muttered reluctantly, shivering slightly.

  
A small smile graced his lips. "You're welcome. Now, are you going to tell me who those men were?"   
"They were-" her eyes landed to the broken necklace, and her hand flew to her throat.  
"They were what?" he asked, oblivious to her panic. 

  
“What did you do?" she asked angrily, pointing at the mangled pieces of the necklace on the ground. 

  
"I was hoping you might have an explanation."

  
"What happened?" Her expression was truly frightening.

He shuddered, and then hastened to explain. "When I was fighting those soldiers, I fell and it broke. They… they just disappeared." he said uncertainly, not knowing how to explain.

  
"You- I - I was saving that for-"

  
"I'm sorry," he offered, “I didn’t mean to, but we wouldn't be alive if I hadn't."

  
She nodded slowly, her grey eyes shining with, tears? 

  
He frowned, before addressing his next question. "If you don't mind my asking," he said casually, "What were you saving it for?"

  
“If I tell you, they will know who you are. And they will never stop hunting you."


	2. we gonna let it burn

“Dramatic, much?” he tittered, rolling his eyes.   
“I’m serious!” she chided, pushing her wet hair back from her face.

She coughed violently, allowing her audience to stare at her in in concern. 

  
When she was over her little fit, he started to talk again. “So tell me. I can handle it.”  
“This is so not a good idea,’ she muttered to herself.   
“I’m being serious! Tell me! Maybe I can help,” he pleaded.

  
Sighing, she did what he asked. "It was a charm from the Lost Caverns. And they-"  
He gasped, cutting her off. "The Lost Caverns? That would mean-“  
"That it was from the Azurian Age, making it a very powerful spell? Yes," she finished indifferently, a scowl on her face. "It destroyed every living thing within a mile that had an evil heart. Which, I suppose, means you do not."

  
She seemed almost disappointed, like she _wanted_ him to have an evil heart. 

  
"What were you saving it for?" he asked, oblivious to her frown. 

  
"The great war, of course," she replied.

Her mask of indifference was replaced with an almost dreamy gaze. 

  
"There's going to be one, you know. Between us and the Nexurians. It's inevitable."

She squeezed her wet hair out with her slim fingers, wringing it out.

  
"The Nexurians?" he asked, confused.

  
"They were once men, but a curse was placed on them, and they became twisted and evil. They sent those soldiers."

  
"And how is it that you are mixed up in all this?" he asked.  
"Oh, when I was four years old, they killed my family," she replied coldly, a sad smile etched upon her face.  
"I'm sorry," he offered. "That must have been hard."

  
"At first it was, but I have the others now, and life is far more interesting. Speaking of the others, we probably ought to go now. We’re late." She sighed tiredly, and got to her feet gracefully.

He stared in amazement. For having almost been drowned, she was quite energetic. She picked up her weapons that the soldiers had dropped, and stretched. He watched as she strapped her quiver onto her back.

  
"We?" he asked abruptly, her words sinking in. 

  
"Yes of course. You’re not safe anymore," she explained, puzzled.   
“What? Wait a minute. I don’t even know your name! I know nothing of these ‘Nexurians’! I’m not just going to walk out of my life-”  
"Why not? Did you ever do anything particularly wonderful?" she wanted to know.

  
"Well, no, but-"  
"What? Afraid your girlfriend would miss you too much?" she rolled her stormy-grey eyes sarcastically.

  
"I don't have a girlfriend," he replied, "What about you, your boyfriend too busy killing Nexurians to save your life?" He mocked her. 

  
"No," she replied, annoyance creeping back into her voice, "He's back at camp."  
"So why isn't he with you?" he asked, standing up. He glanced down at himself, and realized he was almost dry.  
"Because I can take care of myself, and I don't need men to protect me," she said angrily, tossing her dark hair. 

  
"Oh yes. Which is why you'd be dead now if it weren't for me."

  
She gasped. 

"I didn't know the other soldiers were there!" she said defensively, "If I'd known, then I would've been able to lead them to the trap!"  
"Trap?" he said, impression showing on his face, "You're clever. And you're angry. Not a very good mix, but I like it.”  
"Well then I guess it's just too bad that you’re too blind to see the truth. You’re just going to waltz back into your life, and when they come for you, you won’t know how to fight them,” she exploded.

An expression of shock and surprise took over his handsome face, but she took no notice and took a deep breath. "But since I've no intention of seeing you again, I doubt I shall care."

  
She ran to the edge of the forest, turned and grinned impishly at him, her mood clearly lifting. "And my name is Daemon!"

  
He could hear her laughter ringing through the trees, taunting him, daring him.  
And in that split second, he made the most important decision of his life.

  
"Confound it all!" he said to himself, jumping to his feet, and running after her.

  
"Daemon!" he shouted, running through the trees.

  
Silence.

  
"You called?" Daemon said, suddenly appearing beside him, wearing a black cloak, her hand holding the reins of a big, almost majestic looking, black horse.

  
"Uh, yes," he said, suddenly feeling awkward, "I changed my mind. I want to come with you, I want to know more about this war."  
"Well then," Daemon said, smiling like she'd known all along that he would come, "I suppose we should get going."  
"How far is it?" he asked in confusion.

  
"Six hours from here," she replied, an evil glint in her eye, "I hope you don't mind walking."


	3. you burn with the brightest flame

For a moment he looked dumbstruck.

Then he narrowed his eyes, "Oh no, we'll both be riding," he said, whistling loudly. “I have a horse."

His expression was almost smug, and Daemon sighed.   
There was a loud whinny, and the sound of cantering hooves, then a white horse trotted gracefully into view from the trees and nudged Daemon’s companion’s cheek. 

  
"Her name's Overlander," he said, stroking her mane lovingly.   
"This is Djinn," announced Daemon, gesturing to the huge horse behind her, "And what about you?"  
"What?" he asked, confused.  
“If I'm going to be stuck with you for six hours, you are at least going to tell me your name," replied Daemon, in exasperation, amazed that anyone could be so dim-witted.

  
"Oh, my name's Chance," he said, mounting Overlander.  
"Weird. I like it," said Daemon, a thoughtful expression on her face as she swung herself up onto Djinn's back.  
"Yours is weird too," said Chance defensively. "What kind of parents call their kid Daemon?"

  
The said person flinched.

  
"I'm sorry," he said, "I wasn't thinking."

  
They started riding west, Daemon leading Chance. When she didn’t reply straight away, he started to worry, wondering if he had upset her. He sped up so they were riding side by side, their horses’ coats brushing together. 

  
"It's fine," she replied slowly. He stole a glance at her and saw that she was smiling wryly. 

  
"Actually my parents called me Catherine. I changed my name after they died."

  
"Daemon suits you," said Chance awkwardly, "Catherine's too..."  
"Yeah, it didn't really work for me," laughed Daemon, seeing through his awkwardness.   
"So who are 'the others'?" asked Chance, changing the subject.   
"Well, there's Thalia, she’s sixteen," began Daemon. "There's Karel, she's the youngest, only twelve. Her brother’s Alex, and he’s fourteen. Jasper and Ayden are twins, both fifteen, and Cass is twenty. Jason is twenty one, and Brice- my boyfriend-is eighteen."

  
"So how did you guys meet?" asked Chance, his mind whirling with numbers and names. 

  
“Well, I met Thalia when I was twelve and she was ten. She and her sister left their town cause it was attacked by Nexurians. A few months later, we found Cass. Actually, we fell off a cliff with Cass, but you know, long story. Then a year or so later, we found Ayden and Jasper, kind of interrupted their execution, but hey, they're not complaining. When I was fifteen, we were on a raid that went very wrong, and we were caught by the soldiers. So they locked us up in some kind of jail, and Jason, Brice, Alex and Karel were there too. We all broke out, and we've stayed together ever since."

  
"Wow," said Chance, "How long ago was that?"  
"Two years?" guessed Daemon.  
"So you're seventeen," he noted.  
"Eighteen last week," she replied, eyes flaring slightly.  
"Happy birthday?" said Chance, almost questioningly. Her mood swings were getting to him. 

  
"Thanks," she replied, uncertainly, "And how old are you?"  
"Nineteen last month,” he replied, smugly.  
“Well, just because you’re older doesn’t mea-,“ her voice broke off, as her eyes focused on something on a tree.

  
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Daemon pointed at the sketch pinned to the tree. “That-that’s Thalia’s sister... “

She jumped down off her Djinn, handing Chance the reins. She ran over to the tree, and ripped the paper from the nail. 

  
“What happened to her?’ asked Chance. “You mentioned that you found her and Thalia, but nothing after that. What’s her name?”

  
“Her name is Elena. She was captured by the Nexurians, before we found Cass. We tried to find her, but we couldn’t. They told us she was dead,” Daemon replied, bitterness in her voice. 

  
“And why is her picture there?”  
“It says she’s wanted.”  
“What for?”  
“She escaped.”

Chance looked away awkwardly.

“Wow, your life is full of drama, huh,” he casually said.   
“Yeah…” 

  
Chance mentally slapped himself. The girl was obviously uncomfortable talking to him.

Female problems, he decided inside his head. It was extremely rude to talk to a lady about their the time of the month.

“I don’t trust you, yet. So excuse my rudeness,” Daemon sent Chance a cocky smirk, it was almost like she could read his mind.

Chance blushed- it was easy to make him blush- and stuttered an incoherent response. “I didn’t mean, I wasn’t thinking that-”

  
“It’s okay, I guess,” Daemon cut him off laughing. She was amused- the men she knew weren’t easy to embarrass.   
  
They rode in silence two hours. The sun was going down, and both were hungry. 

  
“Shall we make camp, then?” Chance suggested as they reached a clearing.   
“I suppose so,” Daemon answered slowly, glancing at the sky uneasily.  
“Everything alright?” Chance asked carefully, he didn’t want her to huff off in anger. 

  
“I’m just worried. I have no way in contacting the others, I don’t want them to worry about me,” Daemon explained.

Her eyebrows connected in worry and she bit her pink lip anxiously. Chance felt a shiver run up his back and was overcome by a strange impulse to hug her, make sure she was alright. Instead, he shuddered and mounted off Overlander. The were deep in the forest now, and every tree and every root looked the same. 

  
“Are you sure we’re not lost?” Chance glanced at Daemon to see she was already pulling out items from her saddle bag.   
“I know where we’re heading. Just trust me,” Daemon smiled at him.   
  
She had a deep dimple in her right cheek, Chance noted.

“She’s actually quite pretty,” Chance realised aloud.  
“What was that?” Daemon called, laying her blanket on the floor.   
“You don’t trust me, do you?” Chance said instead. There was no way he was telling her she was beautiful.   
“Why would you think that?” Daemon laughed. It was eerie quiet, and their conversation made the forest seem all the more dangerous.

  
“You told me, before.”   
“Huh,” Daemon replied. “I’m not good with people,” Daemon finally explained.   
“I figured,” he shot her a tiny smile.

She rolled her eyes and pulled out a loaf of bread wrapped up in paper.   
He silently pulled out his blanket from his own bag and lay it down next to her. She passed him part of the bread and gazed at the stars starting to appear as they ate.

  
“You know, my mother always told me to make a wish when there’s only one star out,” Chance told her.  
“Really,” Daemon replied, her tone indicating she didn’t want to talk.

“Yes, she was strange in that way,” Chance smiled distantly.   
“Do…do you miss her?” Daemon asked quietly.

Somehow she knew that Chance didn’t speak to his mother often. 

  
“We were extremely close when I was young. I do miss her, but I miss my youngest sister Elysia most. She’s fourteen. My parents don’t really like me associating with her a lot,” Chance sighed sadly. “I usually get to see her once a week. I would’ve seen her tomorrow.”

  
“I’m sorry,” Daemon blurted out suddenly.   
“What? What for?” Chance swallowed the last bite of his bread and looked her in the eyes.

  
“I made you leave your family,” she mumbled, looking away. A breeze swept over them, and Daemon shuddered.   
“Here,” Chance took off his coat that had dried hours ago and handed it to her.  
“No!” Daemon pushed the piece of clothing away and smiled slightly. “I’m not even cold.”

  
“Take it, I insist.”  
“I’m fine. Besides, pretty boy like you probably needs it more than me,” she teased him.   
“You think I’m pretty?” he smirked.   
“Yes, pretty isn’t good,” she laughed lightly.  
“I’ll take it as a compliment, then,” he grinned arrogantly.   
Daemon burst out laughing. “You’re alright, you know that?”  
“Thanks, you’re alright too,” Chance responded quietly.

There was silence for awhile.

“Where is this camp, anyway?” Chance asked.

He didn’t want to stop talking to Daemon. The more time he was with her, the more he started to appreciate her. 

  
“It’s underground. It’s a proper camp, not like the silly things they talk about in novels.”   
“Oh yes?”   
“Yes, it’s really neat, you’ll like it. It’s one of the only safe places from the last great war. You know, the one that resulted in the curse of the Nexurians.”  
“They’re starting to sound really dangerous.”   
“They are. But nothing we can’t handle. They’re almost invincible, unless slaughtered in battle.”   
“Oh?”   
“We’ve been training at camp for years now, I’m quite handy with a bow and arrow, you know. We practice with swords and knives,” Daemon explained. “Can you do anything?” she added, frowning.   
“I'm pretty good with a sword, but I'm hopeless at archery,” he smiled, wryly.

  
Their eyes met, and a slow smile spread across Daemon’s face. Daemon’s heart started to rush, and her palms felt clammy and unusually hot. 

  
“Well, that’s good I suppose,” Daemon looked away, breathless.  
“Yes, I suppose so,” Chance coughed and lay down.

Daemon did the same, facing away from the boy, no man, who made her feel things she had only ever felt for Brice. Just as Daemon was about to drift off, Chance awkwardly reached his hand back to hold her hand.

“Goodnight,” he mumbled sleepily.

Daemon was suddenly wide awake. Had he not understood that she had a boyfriend? Brice was certainly the jealous type, if he knew what was going on, he would be yelling in a fit of jealousy. Daemon could feel her cheeks heating up, and attempted to pull her hand out of his. He held on tightly, snoring quietly. Sighing, Daemon let her hand relax. His hand was big, so her small hand fit in his perfectly. Aside from how her arm was awkwardly pulled back, it was extremely comfortable. Daemon allowed herself to finally worry.

What had she done? She had taken a poor man away from his family, friends, and admirers. She almost didn’t believe Chance when he said he didn’t have a girlfriend. A man like him was simply too hard to resist. 

  
“Not that you like him, Dae,” Daemon whispered quietly to herself. No, she had a wonderful boyfriend who she loved, and loved her. It wouldn’t make sense to fall for Chance, a man she'd known for less than a day. Daemon thought of camp, where her friends would be worrying. She was supposed to have led the soldiers to the trap!

Sighing once more, she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.


	4. done with my own whorish heart

Lazily, Daemon opened her eyes and drank in everything around her- the birds, the breeze, the faint trickling of a creek.

But the moment of peace was ended all too soon, as she remembered the events of the previous day- the trap going wrong, almost drowning, Chance saving her- Chance!  
She attempted to move, but something was stopping her. Slowly she realised that Chance had his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body close to his.  
She blushed, and carefully wriggled her way out, standing up, and surveying their surroundings.  
The sun was already climbing its way up into the sky, and Daemon gasped at the sight. She'd overslept.  
She cursed under her breath, rushing over to her pile of blankets, folding them up, returning them to her saddlebag. She quickly reattached the saddlebag to Djinn's makeshift saddle that Brice had made for her. She smiled at the memory, and reached her hand into the saddlebag, producing an apple, and offering it to Djinn, who happily took it.  
Daemon glanced over at Chance. He looked so peaceful in sleep, she was reluctant to wake him, but they had to leave.

"Chance, wake up," she said, shaking his shoulder.  
He didn't wake up, just murmured something that sounded like "lissa".

She sighed, grabbed the container of water out of Chance's saddlebag, unscrewed the lid, and dumped the contents on his head.  
He immediately woke, cussing loudly.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed, water dripping down his face.  
"You wouldn't wake up," Daemon smirked.

Chance opened his mouth to argue, but decided the better of it.

"So how far away is this camp?" he asked Daemon instead.  
"Hour and a half, perhaps?" she guessed. "You slowed me down a lot yesterday."  
"I saved your life yesterday," he reminded her.

She said nothing, and mounted Djinn.  
He hurriedly shoved the blankets into his saddlebag, attached it to Overlander's saddle, and swung himself up onto her back.  
They rode to the sounds of small animals scurrying around on the forest floor, towards the sound of the trickling creek. 

Daemon dismounted, and grinned at Chance. "Hungry, pretty boy?"

Chance laughed. He joined her by the river bed, and handed her his water container. Wordlessly, she washed it with her small hands and filled it up again. 

"How do you live like this?" He asked curiously. 

She didn't answer, only sat down on a rock and spread her legs out from underneath her. Finally, she looked up slowly. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, like this, I suppose," he gestured to the vast landscape and shrugged. "Without a roof above your head, all the time. Is it hard?"

"It was, at first. I learned to cope, and besides, it's much more interesting this way. Always in danger, living with friends, don't you want that?" she smiled, sadly.  
"I don't really have much of a choice, now, do I?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Daemon answered anyway.

"You shouldn't have asked about the charm, and I shouldn't have told you what it was. I shouldn't have told you about the Nexurians," she said quietly, her face masked by her hair.

"I would have made you tell me anyway. I wanted to help," Chance replied softly.

Daemon nodded, then stood up.

"We have to keep going. And there is a roof, thanks very much," Daemon smiled at him briefly before turning away.

They remained silent for a time, continuing to ride west, the silence only broken by the crackling of leaves and sticks underneath the horses' hooves. To Chance, the forest looked all the same, but Daemon seemed to know it like the back of her hand. After what seemed like hours, they halted at the foot of a cliff, covered in vines and moss. Confusion appeared on Chance's face as he surveyed the landscape. Daemon grinned at him, dismounting Djinn. She paced back and forth a few times, scanning the seemingly impenetrable wall, before her eyes lit up, and she brushed away some vines to reveal a doorway.  
Chance nodded, impressed. His blue eyes were straining to take in everything in view.

"We walk from here," Daemon instructed, taking hold of Djinn's reins.

Chance nodded in agreement, and dismounted Overlander, patting her flank.

"After you," said Daemon, gesturing to the hole in the cliff face.  
"Why do I have to go first?" he asked, suspiciously.  
"Because I have to close the entrance," she answered, exasperatedly.  
"Fair enough," he shrugged, leading Overlander through the door into a cavernous room that looked as if it went on forever.

Daemon followed with Djinn, moving the vines so they once again covered the door.

"Dae?"

Daemon whirled around to see a tall man with an unruly mass of brown hair.

"Brice," she breathed. 

Daemon dropped Djinn's reins and ran forwards into his waiting arms; Chance could feel jealously gnawing at his stomach. Just hunger, he told himself.

"Dae, I've been so worried. What happened to you while you were gone?" Brice choked back a sob as he burrowed his face into Daemon's hair.

"I'll explain in a minute," promised Daemon, pulling away from Brice, and leading him towards Chance.  
"Who're you?" Brice asked, his voice suddenly filled with hostility.  
"Chance. I saved Daemon's life," Chance replied coolly.

Brice looked at Daemon for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Well in that case, you're welcome here," Brice smiled, as he wrapped a muscled arm around Daemon. "I'm Brice, Dae's boyfriend, thank you for saving her life, we'd- I'd be lost without her. It's nice meeting you."  
"Likewise. Anyone would have done it, I just happened to be there at the time," Chance shrugged, noticing there seemed something false in Brice's smile.  
"Don't be modest," said Brice, "You saved her life, and that's no small thing."

Daemon smiled up at him.

"Chance, come on, you have to meet the others," Daemon told Chance.  
"Yes, I'm sure you'll fit right in," Brice said, traces of hostility coming back into his voice.  
Daemon glared at Brice, and he raised his hands defensively, "Okay, Okay!"

Farther into the room, a small group of people sat in a circle, seemingly in the middle of a heated discussion.  
Silence gradually overcame them as Daemon and Brice led Chance over to the group.

"Dae?" a soprano voice called out.

Chance turned to see who had spoken, and saw a teenage girl with forest green eyes and a splattering of freckles across her nose.  
"Daemon! Where the hell were you?" she yelled, darting forwards to hug the said person.

"I'm about to explain, Thalia!" Daemon answered, wrapping her arms around the girl.

Chance looked around at the small group.  
Thalia was a slim girl, of average height, her auburn hair skimming the top of her shoulders, her eyes the greenest Chance had ever seen. Sitting beside each other were two identical boys, who looked around sixteen, with dark hair, and identical scowls on their faces, though their eyes were full of relief. An older looking blonde girl with hazel eyes sat in the lap of a man who looked well into his twenties, and he had his arms around her. A small brown haired girl sat cross legged on the ground, sketching something in the dirt, a look of intense concentration on her face. A boy who looked similar to the girl,(so Chance assumed he was her brother), watched as she drew, the same look of intense concentration on his face.

"I have news, everyone," Daemon announced to the group.

They all turned to face her, questions in their eyes.

"Who's the new guy?" asked Thalia, sitting down beside the brother and sister.  
"His name's Chance," announced Daemon, "He saved my life."  
"Then he is welcome," said the young looking brown haired girl, "We need all the fighters we can get."

Chance didn't really want to think about having to fight, and was glad when Daemon began to speak, giving him a welcome distraction.  
Slowly, everyone fell silent as Daemon told the tale.

***  
"And so here we are," Daemon finished.

She had said nothing of Elena, and Chance looked at her quizzically.   
Almost imperceptibly, she shook her head, and mouthed 'Later'.  
Chance was confused, but decided she knew what she was doing.

"So welcome to the family, Chance," said the older looking man, taking his hand off the blonde girl's waist and offering it to Chance, "I'm Jason."  
Chance shook his hand, "Family?"  
"Yes," said the brown haired girl, defensively looking up from her sketch in the dirt, "We take care of each other. We're family."

The expression on her face was so earnest, and Chance felt pity for her- she looked so young.

Then he remembered Daemon telling him she'd been four when her family was killed, and guessed they'd all been young when forced into this life.

"I'm sorry," he said to the girl, "The idea just seemed strange."  
She seemed to accept his apology, and nodded, "I'm Karel."  
"Good to meet you," said Chance honestly.

In turn, they told him their names, which Daemon had done before, but he only vaguely remembered them, and wasn't sure which name belonged to which person.  
The boy next to the girl drawing in the dirt was Alex. The girl sitting in Jason's lap introduced herself as Cass. Thalia, he recognised from before. The twins were Ayden and Jasper, although if asked, Chance wouldn't be able to say which was which. Brice sat with his arm around Daemon, a wary look in his eyes as he studied Chance, who felt like the man could see into his very soul, and involuntarily shuddered.

"So what now?" asked Thalia, directing the question at Daemon, who seemed to be the leader of the group.

She paused before answering.

"We train. We go on raids. We survive."

There was something about her tone of voice that sort of intimidated Chance, and he decided he did not ever want her as an enemy.

"So this is your life, huh?" Chance murmured, half to himself.

Daemon shrugged.

"It's all we have left."


End file.
